Unknown Maker, Javanese

The central textile in this case is a Javanese dodot, a royal ceremonial skirt cloth that is more than twice the size of a regular long cloth (kain panjang). All three textiles are patterned with semèn - a conspicuously male iconography with Hindu roots. Part of a group of batik motifs historically reserved for nobility and representing the cosmic realm, its name derives from the Javanese word semi, meaning to sprout. The pattern also includes temple buildings, plant tendrils, and animals, in particular the bird garuda, representative of heaven and earth, and the snake, or naga, symbolizing the mother of the underworld and the creatures of the sea.

This dodot displays the color combination for which the Surakarta region was best known: blue, white and light brown. The cloth for this batik is very finely woven. This type of cotton material, imported from India and Europe, led to the development of intricately detailed batik patterns. The extremely smooth surface allowed batik artists to apply the wax resist with great precision and control, producing complex designs such as the semen design seen here. Traditionally, dodot have no border or kepala (head) designs. The overall patterning extends across the entire width and length of the cloth.